In the film “The Bloody Fur Business,” Onet journalist Janusz Schwetner revealed the horrific conditions at the largest fur-animal farm in Poland. The material was recorded in cooperation with Żenia, a Ukrainian associate of the Open Cages Association, who took a job at the farm for more than two months. Over the course of several weeks, he managed to make dozens of recordings. They show the enormous scale of the suffering of animals killed for their fur.
Janusz Schwetner:
The report is largely thanks to the “Free Cages” association.
Szczepan Wójcik, a fur-industry leader, repeatedly said on Radio Maryja that animals on farms do not suffer.
The scenes that took place at the farm and were recorded by the activist Żenia are being investigated by the prosecutor’s office. They are shocking.
The report contributed to the creation of the “Five for Animals” bill.
Several hours after the material was broadcast, Jarosław Kaczyński held a press conference on the matter.
I did not expect the bill on this matter to be introduced so quickly.
The shocking scenes from the report were not an isolated excerpt from reality.
Work on the farm is very difficult. People work in harsh conditions.
The owners of this farm should apologize for what happened there. Instead of apologizing, they attacked the journalists.
I would like Confederation to respect the fact that many associations, institutions and individuals, including Jarosław Kaczyński, believe that animals should not be killed and made into fur.
Father Rydzyk effectively defended the fur industry and lobbied for years against a ban on operating fur farms.
The narrative on Radio Maryja: it will begin with closing mink farms and end with abortion on demand.
Several hours after Onet published the report, PiS announced its “Five for Animals,” a plan introducing, among other things, a ban on fur-animal farming, the use of animals for entertainment and spectacles, and keeping animals chained.
The documentary explains how the fur lobby managed to prevent Jarosław Kaczyński himself from introducing a ban on fur farming. It also shows the close ties between industry leader Szczepan Wójcik and Father Tadeusz Rydzyk. Former PiS MP Krzysztof Czabański tells Onet that he intends to notify the prosecutor’s office about the actions undertaken by the fur lobby.
Janusz Szwertner’s latest project, created together with Witold Bereś, is the book “Scars: How the Psychosystem Destroys Our Children,” a literary documentary about the horrific state of Polish child psychiatry.
Janusz Schwertner is an Onet journalist. He won the 2018 Grand Press award in the “News” category, received the Fikus Award for journalism of the highest standard, and was a finalist for the Torańska Award. He has twice won the Grand Prix of the Małopolska Journalists’ Award and has won the Ringier Axel Springer Polska “People Awards” competition three times. He was nominated for the Grand Press and Mediators awards for an article about mobbing at “Szlachetna Paczka.” Winner of the “Good Journalist 2019” readers’ poll. Co-author of the books “Smoleńsk: 96 Memories” and “Counterterrorists: Polish Special Forces in Action.” He teaches online journalism at SWPS.